Bulgaria Urges NATO to Tackle Climate Change

According to the Shanghai Daily, Bulgaria, a member of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), has called on the latter institution to “adopt a common approach to address the impact of climate change on military operations.” The remarks were delivered by Bulgarian Deputy Defense Minister Ivan Ivanov at a workshop titled “Visualizing Implications Of Climate Change On Military Activities And Relationships” which was jointly organized by the NATO Center of Excellence on Crisis Management for Disaster Response, the U.S. European Command and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Since the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, NATO has engaged in an ongoing dialogue about the nature of its mission. In this context, complex transnational crises like climate change (and its attendant implications for security) present a challenge that this regional collective security institution may be uniquely suited to address – particularly since recent studies have shown that the Mediterranean littoral may be already experiencing the effects of climate change through a rapid diminution of winter precipitation, and that this may be contributing to increased vulnerabilities in the region, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa.

Key environmental and resource constraints, including health risks, climate change, water scarcity and increasing energy needs will further shape the future security environment in areas of concern to NATO and have the potential to significantly affect NATO planning and operations.